tFS: You use AI Technology to help build the selection on your site. How does your version set you apart from other sites that use a similar curating system?
FH: The technology continues to be in development, but we really fundamentally wanted to start the site focused on people and their key basics. We ask what they already own and get a good idea of the styles they like. From there, we use that information to present them with the shopping experience based on what they browse, what they’re looking at. All the basic things that a website does. We also look at what they purchase. We’re working to add additional features in the coming weeks that include a “want list,” which is like a wishlist. We are able through the site to serve people some new, fresh things, not only just through individual items, but we’re trying to move toward algorithmically built entire looks, so it’s completely tailored to you. As I said, we’re going to add a feature that tracks what you’ve bought, so every time you make a purchase, it will fold back in and you’ll be able to build your closet up. We’re going to be able to give you a set of 10 key basics, but also add another five or continue to ask people and add to their profile. We’re going to be able to be part of helping women get dressed in the morning. We hope to get to a point where we can give you outfit suggestions based on the weather where you are.
tFS: It sounds like the technology is more specific and tailored.
FH: If you want to compare this to something like Stitch Fix. Stitch Fix gets a ton of information from you, but at the end of the day, they’re giving you a big page of stuff. I liken it to throwing spaghetti on the wall. I like food analogies! What we’re trying to say is, we know these things and we’re not just making a guess, but we are literally associating things you might want to buy with what you already own. We’re going to pick these pieces of spaghetti up, and we’re going to put them on the wall for you and help you understand what other pieces of spaghetti they look good with…
tFS: Or rather, what sauces go well with it.
FH: There we go!
Image: Live the Look
tFS: How many retailers do you currently have involved?
FH: Right now, we have about 25 retailers and brands. The retailers we’re working with, for example, are Target, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. Obviously, they have a bigger mass of merchandise to carry on with a larger assortment of brands. So, this allows us to have a wide price range. You can buy everything from a Coach bag down to a Target flat. We’re planing on doing more testing around price points, although I’ve really found that our customers are in that high-low kind of category.
tFS: We were reading an article recently about how people are buying fewer clothes, but spending more money on the pieces they buy, so they’ll last longer and fit better in their wardrobes. Live the Look seems to be, in a way, playing into that.
FH: I’ve always been a fan of the whole theory of the life cycle of your closet and keeping it edited, whatever edited means to you. There are statistics out there that say you only wear about 20 percent of what’s in your closet and on average, women have about $500 worth of clothes just sitting around. I’m a big fan of making choices of only adding to your closet knowing what you’re going to wear with it. You don’t want to get something in the mail and say, “I bought this when I was drinking wine on a Friday night and I have absolutely nothing to wear it with.” But that’s where we come in. For us, we say, “Hey, this top would look great with that pair of jeans and a blazer.” We want it to be so you’re not buying a bunch of random stuff, you’re really buying with purpose and understanding.
